Rik Mayall's funniest TV moments – in clips

The star of The Young Ones and Bottom has died aged 56. We look back on some of his best roles, including scene-stealing turns in Blackadder, The New Statesman and yes, Jackanory. Share your favourites below

Rik Mayall’s death wasn’t just a shock because he was relatively young, but because his onscreen performances were so full of life. His characters weren’t neatly drawn sketches: they were vast mad scribbles, jammed to the margins with noise and energy. He was the naughty uncle, the children’s entertainer who would scare the grownups. If you are under 40, you’d be forgiven for feeling as if a part of your childhood has died with him.

The Young Ones

The role that set the blueprint for Mayall's entire career was Rick in The Young Ones. A desperate, full-volume faux-leftie, Rick was perhaps the most reprehensible character on the show. However, Mayall tore into Rick with such abandon – making him at once uglier and less one-dimensional than any of his counterparts – he’d quickly come to be seen as the face of the show.

Blackadder

According to an old story, Mayall once ended a typically explosive take on Blackadder by turning to the dumbfounded cast and crew and asking: “Have I won?” It had to be quietly explained to him that acting doesn’t really work like that. But the truth of the matter is that he did. Lord Flashheart burst in and out of Blackadder in an instant – kicking the doors in, thrusting his pelvis endlessly, roaring all his lines with impossible confidence and then exploding again as he made his exit. Upstaging an entire fleet of world-class comedians should have been impossible. Mayall made it look effortless.

The New Statesman

Devious MP Alan B’Stard was Mayall’s most satirical creation, a warped reflection of the sleaze-ridden Conservatives in the 80s and 90s. However, as played by Mayall, he still managed to be a manic cartoon. This was a funhouse House of Cards, where any trace of subtlety was jackhammered away by Mayall’s force of personality. And, as such, B’Stard immediately became an icon.

Bottom

When Mayall teamed up with his Young Ones co-star Ade Edmondson again in the 90s, the result was Bottom – less a sitcom and more a crazed pantomime. As with The Young Ones, Mayall played the slightly more pathetic member of the duo. Ade was depraved, but Rik’s endless need for approval made him even harder to stomach. Mayall and Edmondson were loathe to let these characters go, taking them on the road and then eventually making the ill-conceived Guest House Paradiso together.

Jackanory

Mayall would appear in many roles just as indelible as any of these. Drop Dead Fred was supposed to be his big US break, but his innate cockiness refused to translate on the American talkshow scene. His Rik Mayall Presents episode Dancing Queen preempted the resurgence of love for Abba. But perhaps his best role was as a storyteller. He may have been one of the funniest actors ever but, as his retelling of Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine proved beyond all doubt, Rik Mayall deserves to be remembered as the greatest host of Jackanory that there ever was.